Sam Pittman’s turn-around of the Arkansas football program across the three previous seasons has been one of college football’s more compelling storylines – especially as Pittman, long recognized as perhaps the sport’s best overall offensive line coach, had yet to garner any head coaching experience.
But with an everyman approach and reemphasis on physicality spliced with a big-play offense, the Razorbacks won a combined 16 games – including a pair of season-ending bowl wins – in the past two seasons.
Arkansas has done it by having developed some high school signees into key contributors and also with a calculated, measured approach to the NCAA’s Transfer Portal.
Pittman freely admits as much. He likewise knows the Portal isn’t perfect in its current iteration.
“I tell you what I learned my lesson a couple years ago, because we were talking about who could we afford to lose if we lost some guys and we need some scholarships, all that kind of stuff,” Pittman said this week at SEC Media Days, where it was pointed out that the Razorbacks have only a couple members left from their initial signing class under Pittman. “Not running them out of the program. We talked about who could -- I learned my lesson.
“I went this spring, and I said, ‘Hey, I don't want nobody to leave. I don't want nobody on the team to leave.’ If you think about it, your worst player might be friends with your best players and you're running his best friend out; you've not only lost the worst player on the team, you've lost the best player on the team.
“So we are not trying to lose anybody off the team. But to answer your question, I think the portal has benefitted us, if that makes sense. I do think the window is way too long. I think we are trying to address that as coaches, as NCAA as an SEC group.”
For this past year, the NCAA Transfer Window at the FBS level spanned two separate periods: the six-plus weeks from Dec. 5, 2022, through Jan. 18, 2023, and 15 days from April 15-30.
As have other coaches, Pittman expressed his belief that the windows have stretched too long and hindered coaches’ abilities to maintain their roster management.
He used a real estate comparison to drive home his point.
“Well, I believe that kids know if they want to transfer,” said Pittman. “I think they know. It's like a house, coming soon for sale.
“Now on Twitter, it's ‘I'm getting ready to go in the Transfer Portal.’ Because rules say you can't talk to them, all this, so they are letting the world know they are getting ready to. I think they already know. I think a week is plenty of time.”
Pittman has spoken about his desire to continue recruiting at the high school ranks but having to strike a balance with the prevalence of the Portal; after signing approximately 22 players out of the Portal from 2020-22, the Hogs added 19 transfers in their 2023 class.
“It's going to be a lot better for roster management and it's going to be better for us that if a guy in the Portal, it allows us to go back to high school and recruit,” said Pittman, who has made an emphasis to connect with high school coaches throughout Arkansas since he was hired three years ago. “Right now it's very, very hard if you lose a guy in the Portal, not to go replace him with a Portal guy.
“I think closing that window down somewhat … if I'm a grand transfer, and I've transferred once as a graduate transfer, to me, that's plenty. To me, you can't go transfer again.”
Pittman also made reference to the impact of Name, Image and Likeness deals that can influence a student-athlete’s transfer decision – even though coaches have emphasized they’ve experienced players being promised “NIL deals” that never come to fruition.
“NIL -- part of the NIL problem comes with the ability to transfer,” he said. “And if we close that window down, maybe some of the financial things you're hearing in NIL might become more true than maybe just words.”